Activist booked over blast near Kudankulam plant

Police on Wednesday booked anti-nuclear activist SP Uthayakumar and others in connection with the explosion at a village near Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district which killed six people and seriously injured three others, including an anti-nuclear activist, on Tuesday.

Uthayakumar, head of the anti-nuclear People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), his associates Pushparayan, Mukilan and 'others' have been booked under different sections of Indian Pemal Code and Explosive Substances Act, top police sources said.

They have been booked for offences including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and criminal conspiracy among others, the sources said.

PMANE is spearheading the protests against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tirunelveli.

Police said that the bomb likely went off accidentally as suspected activists were making several crude explosive devices in a house at around 6.40pm in Idinathakarai Tsunami colony on Tuesday, about 15km from the plant.

Superintendent of police Vijayendra Bidari said they have recovered two unexploded bombs, but are yet to question the anti-nuclear activist, who they say is a suspect, receiving treatment for serious injuries.

Among the dead were a woman and three children all aged below five.

According to department of atomic energy official, the plant was safe.

The nuclear plant in Tirunelveli district, about 650km south of Chennai, became operational earlier this year. Local residents have protested for years against the plant over fears an accident could create a health hazard. (With PTI and AP inputs)